The present invention is directed generally to a coaxial connector and more particularly to a coaxial connector having an improved arrangement for securely holding the cable and sealing the interior of the connector from the external environment.
There are many applications where it is necessary to terminate a coaxial cable of the type having an inner conductor encircled by an annular insulating layer, an outer conductor, and an insulating jacket with a coaxial connector which is adapted to interfit with a complementary mating connector. To insure proper electrical characteristics, the termination between the cable and connector must provide a low resistance connection between the inner and outer cable conductors and corresponding inner and outer connector contacts. Furthermore, to protect the integrity of the electrical connections, the cable must be securely held by the connector so that the cable cannot be inadvertently pulled out of the connector. Also, the cable-connector interconnections must be sealed from the external environment to prevent degradation of the interconnections and the connector component parts.
While prior art techniques and connector constructions have been generally successful towards achieving these ends, they have only been so successful for relatively large connectors. The prior art connectors have generally included a great number of component parts to provide adequate cable retention and connector sealing. Because a great number of parts are required, only larger connectors have adequate inner space for accommodating both the many component parts and the cable to be terminated. Connectors of smaller size do not, because of their small size, provide adequate space for incorporating both the large number of prior art component parts and the cable to be terminated.
Even where the large connectors have adequate space to incorporate prior art constructions for cable retention and connector sealing, they are relatively expensive owing to the great number of required component parts. Furthermore, because coaxial connectors find considerable applications in field-type environments, it is most desirable to be able to easily service them in the field without the need for replacement parts or special tools. Field servicing of prior art connectors has been difficult, if not impossible, because the connector component parts are not only many in number, but also are fragile. As a result, some component parts may not be reusable and damage of the fragile component parts during field servicing is likely. Also, in many cases, special tools are required to reassemble the connectors and terminate cables to them. Thus, the availability of replacement parts and special tools is generally required which, as mentioned above, is most undesirable from a field servicing standpoint,
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a coaxial connector which includes an improved arrangement for effecting cable retention and connector sealing.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a coaxial cable connector having fewer component parts than required by prior art constructions for providing cable retention and connector sealing.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a coaxial cable connector which is less expensive than prior art connectors and which is readily field servicable.